The Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association has put a figure of 350,000 to 400,000 on the number of initial users it expects for its proposed payments and loyalty service.

The group, which is backed by the country’s three operators among others, said its estimate of first-round users was based on the findings from a year-long pilot, as well as research conducted in three phases during that period.

Magyar Telekom, Telenor Hungary,Vodafone Hungary, MasterCard, OTP Bank and SuperShop established the Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association three years ago.

The association expects user numbers to grow beyond the initial numbers as more NFC-capable smartphones come on the market, and other service providers adopt the wallet, it told Mobile World Live.

The country’s three operators have 11.2 million mobile connections (GSMA Intelligence Q2, 2014).

The group also found that active participants in the MobilTarca pilot made a total of 41,000 payments and more than 4,000 loyalty point transactions over the year.

Users spent more than HUF120 million ($0.5 million) in more than 20 countries.

One-third of Hungary’s point-of-sale terminals are now enabled for contactless payments, it added.

Association president Gabor Pukler said members are now working hard on a commercial launch.

Furthermore, BellResearch found that 86 per cent of participants in the pilot would use the wallet in the commercial phase, and 87 per cent would also consider wallet compatibility when buying their next smartphone. Three out of four users would recommend the MobilTárca wallet to their friends.

During the test period participants could use the following five NFC-based services in the wallet: OTP Bank’s MasterCard mobile PayPass payment card, SuperShop’s NFC loyalty card, a sports facility access card, event tickets provided by InterTicket, employee ID card and, in a limited edition, a public transport card for the city of Szolnok.